Current Controversies in Oncology

Current Controversies in Oncology and Current Insights in Oncology articles provide a forum for the exchange of views on topical issues in the field of oncology. The opinions expressed are those of the authors alone. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor or ASCO.

"As oncologists, we painstakingly translate clinical evidence for our patients. We inform them of odds, percentages, risks, and survival. When it comes to deciding on a treatment path, we lean heavily on the potential of physical toxicity, as we should, but are we missing . . ."

"Given the possibility of using highly effective anti-androgen treatment . . . with new agents and the promise hinted at by sipuleucel-T and fowlpox-PSA-TRICOM vaccine, it should be possible to contemplate cure of metastatic prostate cancer within the next decade."

"The majority of patients with thyroid cancer have low-risk disease. There is wide hospital-based variation in radioactive iodine use for low-risk disease, suggesting that in some instances there may be overuse . . ."

"Unfortunately, the urologic oncology community has yet to identify barriers to the use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy that can be overcome in a widespread fashion. In some centers such as ours, we have adopted the practice of referring all patients with T2 or higher tumor . . ."